Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs C. Cybele Raver has launched a global search for the next dean of the Vanderbilt University College of Arts and Science, who will begin their appointment in the 2026–27 academic year. Raver has tasked a committee with vetting candidates for the role.
Since its founding in 1873, the College of Arts and Science has served as the academic core of Vanderbilt. It is the university’s most interdisciplinary college, with more than 100 majors and minors, and 20 graduate programs guided by 636 full-time faculty. It serves a community of over 3,800 undergraduate students and more than 600 graduate students.
Its faculty and students collaborate with every corner of the university and leave an indelible mark on the local community and around the world. The new dean will be responsible for shepherding this vast portfolio and outlining a vision for transformative research and education in the 21st century.
“The College of Arts and Science is central to Vanderbilt’s academic mission. It provides a foundation in the arts, humanities, social sciences and sciences that supports the entire university,” Raver said. “This search offers a pivotal opportunity to recruit a leader who will foster excellence across this broad portfolio, advance scholarly and creative work, and strengthen the college’s role in preparing students to make meaningful contributions in an increasingly complex world.”
Dean Timothy P. McNamara has announced his decision to step down from the deanship at the end of his term on June 30, 2026, and return to the faculty. The revered cognitive scientist and academic leader was appointed the Searcy Family Dean of the College of Arts and Science in 2023. Under his leadership, Arts and Science has achieved record milestones in fundraising, implemented the new A&S College Core curriculum, restructured the dean’s office, expanded pre-major advising, reorganized and strengthened humanities departments and laid the groundwork for a collaborative research building on the site of Stevenson 6.
“Thanks to Dean McNamara’s steady hand and the remarkable faculty and staff in A&S, we begin this search from a position of tremendous strength,” Thomas Steenburgh, dean of the Owen School and chair of the search committee, said. “The brightest days for Arts and Science are ahead, and this committee and I are excited to work on behalf of the entire community to identify exceptional candidates for the role.”
The search committee will work in partnership with Isaacson, Miller, an executive search firm with deep expertise in higher education, to identify and vet qualified candidates for on-campus interviews. The committee is a representative body of Arts and Science faculty, university leaders, staff and a graduate student:
- Chair Thomas Steenburgh, dean, Owen Graduate School of Management
- Joshua Clinton, Abby and Jon Winkelried Chair of Political Science
- Bruce Evans, chairman, Vanderbilt University Board of Trust
- Alissa Hare, assistant dean of Arts and Science; principal senior lecturer in chemistry
- Nicole Hemmer, associate professor of history
- Matthew Johnson-Roberson, dean, College of Connected Computing; University Distinguished Professor of Computer Science
- Dan Margalit, Stevenson Chair in Mathematics; chair of the Department of Mathematics
- Kurt Shepherd, assistant vice chancellor for finance
- Eric Skaar, Ernest W. Goodpasture Chair in Pathology; University Distinguished Professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology and of Biological Sciences
- Julie Talbert, Ph.D. candidate, Department of Chemistry
- Tracey George (ex officio), deputy provost and Charles B. Cox III and Lucy D. Cox Family Chair in Law & Liberty
Vanderbilt faculty who want to nominate candidates for consideration are encouraged to use the job posting on the Isaacson, Miller website.
